(Busch Stadium) After yesterday saw rain account for two hours and fifteen minutes of delay, the weather is at again as today’s start time has been pushed back to 1:45pm CT. (Updated, targeted time is now 2:30pm CT).
“Sunny and 75 in my mind,” responded Mike Matheny if he anticipated any difference in how weather delays were handled with this being the start of a series instead of a getaway day. “Until somebody tells me different, we’re going to be ready to play when the bell rings.”
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The Busch Stadium grounds crew worked late last night after the game and began again early this morning to ready the field for play.
“Our field crew does an amazing job,” praised Matheny. “The hours they put in to that field to make it, not just a field that’s capable of playing, but just a beautiful field that’s really nice to play on.”
The rain had subsided for much of the morning, but Head Groundskeeper Bill Findley and his crew rolled out the tarp a few minutes before the rains began to fall about 30 minutes before the scheduled game time.
For the latest updates on the rain delays, please follow Brian Stull on Twitter @StullySTL.
Once play gets underway, the starting lineups are as follows:
CARDINALS (updated)
2B Matt Carpenter
SS Aledmys Diaz
LF Matt Holliday
CF Stephen Piscotty
3B Jhonny Peralta
C Yadier Molina
RF Brandon Moss
1B Jedd Gyorko
P Carlos Martinez
PIRATES
1B John Jaso
RF Gregory Polanco
CF Andrew McCutchen
LF Starling Marte
3B David Freese
2B Josh Harrison
SS Jordy Mercer
C Erik Kratz
P Jonathon Niese (L)
